宋 Song · 诗 Poem
题钱舜举写生五首 水仙兰
Inscribed on the Five Paintings of Living Things by Qian Shunju: The Narcissus and the Orchid
翩翩凌波仙，静挹君子德。
平生出处同，相知不易得。
Quietly, sipping, the virtue, of, the gentleman.
All, the life, the coming and the going, the same,
The knowing, each other, not, easy, to, obtain.
Meaning
A poem of the painting and the praise, written by Chen Shen. Light and graceful the goddess treading the waves, quietly sipping the virtue of the gentleman — the narcissus and the orchid of the opening. All the life the coming and the going the same, the knowing each other not easy to obtain — the praise of the close. The poem is the painting and the praise: the goddess, the gentleman, and the close's not easy to obtain.
画中水仙如那衣袂飘然、踏波而来的仙子。那幽兰在沉静中，自有一种君子般的品德流露。它们一生里生长的环境与品格的渊源本就相同。像它们这般彼此相知契合，在人间实在难以求得。
Appreciation
[Plain Paraphrase] Light, and graceful, the goddess, treading, the waves, quietly, sipping, the virtue, of, the gentleman. All, the life, the coming and the going, the same, the knowing, each other, not, easy, to, obtain. [Structure and Thought] The poem moves from the praise of the narcissus with the goddess and the orchid with the gentleman, through the sameness of the coming and the going, to the close's the knowing each other not easy to obtain. [Key Technique] The poem's art is the close of the praise: all the life the coming and the going the same, and the close's the knowing each other not easy to obtain — the painting gathered in the sameness and the close's praise. [Emotional Tone] Graceful, pure, and admiring: the poem is the goddess, the gentleman and the close's knowing.
【白话串讲】 陈深题钱舜举画的水仙兰：“翩翩凌波仙，静挹君子德”——水仙像凌波仙子。“平生出处同，相知不易得”——他写水仙与兰花。 【意象与手法】以「凌波仙」拟水仙，「静挹君子德」写兰，仙与德对举，一飞动一沉静；末句由物及人，翻进为叹友。 【情感与主旨】借遗民画家笔下的花木，寄寓不仕新朝、守节不移的孤高，也暗含同道零落、相知难觅的孤寂。 【名句点睛】「相知不易得」五字最沉——把二十字小诗从赞花悄然拉到人间知交之难，以极淡之笔收极沉之慨。
Background
Chen Shen (c. 13th century), the poet of the late Song and the early Yuan, wrote this 'The Narcissus and the Orchid' of the painting and the praise — the admiration of the purity. The goddess treading the waves with the gentleman sipping the virtue, and the close's the knowing each other not easy to obtain — the poem gathers the admiration of the poet, the praise of the friendship of the flowers. The poem is one of the works of the poet's poems of the paintings.
陈深，字子微，号清全，平江（今苏州）人，宋末元初遗民学者，生于宋理宗时，入元不仕，隐居教授，精于《春秋》，有《清全斋集》。钱舜举即钱选（约一二三九—约一三〇〇），字舜举，号玉潭，吴兴人，南宋景定乡贡进士，入元后隐居不仕，与赵孟頫等同称「吴兴八俊」，以花鸟、山水、人物画名世，尤工写生，风格精丽而不失清气，为元代文人画先驱之一。陈深此诗为题钱选《写生五首》组诗之「水仙兰」一帧的题画诗。钱选《写生五首》今虽不传其全，然据题可知乃写生花卉五幅，此首所题为水仙与兰合幅（或并题两花）。宋末元初易代之际，士人多以绘画、题咏寄寓气节，钱选画花而陈深题诗，二人均为不仕新朝的遗民，诗画相发，于花木的清姿中寄托「君子」人格。水仙号为「凌波仙子」，本于曹植《洛神赋》「凌波微步」；兰为传统「君子」象征，源于《离骚》「纫秋兰以为佩」。此诗以二十字短章，将画中二花绾合为「仙」与「德」的统一，正可见遗民诗人于乱世中借物写志的用心。
Art
The poem's art is the art of the praise. The flowers open: light, and graceful, the goddess, treading, the waves — the goddess of the waves; quietly, sipping, the virtue, of, the gentleman — the gentleman of the virtue. The sameness follows: all, the life, the coming and the going, the same — the same of the coming and the going; the knowing, each other, not, easy, to, obtain — the not easy of the knowing — the flowers, the sameness and the close's praise, gathered in the poem.
此诗艺术之妙，首在「以画为题而超乎画外」，即题画诗「不黏不脱」的至高境界。全诗二十字，前两句分写二花，后两句总绾其神，章法井然。首句「翩翩凌波仙」写水仙之姿，「翩翩」状其风神闲雅、飘举欲仙，「凌波仙」三字点出画中水仙如曹植笔下的洛神，踏波而来，是画境的文学化转译。次句「静挹君子德」写兰，「挹」者，舀取、领略也，言兰之静穆中自含君子之德，一个「静」字与「翩翩」之动形成对照，一飞动一沉静，恰似画中二花一轻盈一端凝的布局。两句以「仙」与「德」对举，把视觉形象升华为人格象征。后两句「平生出处同，相知不易得」，由物及人、由画及友：二花「出处」（生长环境与品格渊源）本同，皆属清流君子；而人世间真能相知如二花者，却「不易得」。这就把题画从「赞花」翻进为「叹友」，使短章生出纵深。全诗不描形貌而写神韵，不滞于画而超于画，是宋末题画绝句「以少总多」的清品。
Allusions
'The goddess, treading, the waves' (ling bo xian) is the goddess, treading, the waves — the goddess of the waves, the narcissus of the painting; 'the virtue of the gentleman' (jun zi de) is the virtue of the gentleman — the virtue of the gentleman, the orchid of the painting; 'the coming and the going' (chu chu) are the coming and the going — the coming out and the going in, the sameness of the life.
此诗虽仅二十字，用典却极有渊源，几乎字字有本。「凌波仙」一典，出自曹植《洛神赋》「凌波微步，罗袜生尘」，写洛水女神体态之轻盈；水仙花因多生水边、姿态娟洁，自宋人始号为「凌波仙子」，黄庭坚《王充道送水仙花五十支》已有「凌波仙子生尘袜，水上轻盈步微月」之句，陈深移以题画，正承山谷之喻。「君子德」则本于《孔子家语》「芝兰生于深林，不以无人而不芳；君子修道立德，不为穷困而改节」，以及《离骚》「纫秋兰以为佩」，兰之为「君子」象征，自先秦已然。「翩翩」一词，源出《诗经·小雅·四牡》「翩翩者鵻」、又《楚辞》写神女「翩翩兮朱衣」，皆状轻举之貌。「出处」在诗中非仅指行踪，更暗含士人「出仕」与「处隐」的古老命题（如《易·系辞》「君子之道，或出或处」），陈深以遗民身份写「出处同」，实暗寓二花（亦自喻与钱选）同隐不仕的默契。「相知」则化用「知音」「相知」传统（嵇康《琴赋》、古诗「相知何必旧」）。综上，此诗以极短篇幅熔铸《楚辞》、孔门、魏赋诸典，是典故在题画诗中「举重若轻」的范例。
Commentary
This poem is one of the works of Chen Shen's poems of the paintings, quoted for the grace of its opening and the praise of its close. The goddess treading the waves, and the knowing each other not easy to obtain, are among the admired passages of the poet's poems. Critics praise the poem's purity: the flowers gathered in the sameness, to the close's knowing.
陈深此首题画绝句，虽仅二十字，却因所题对象（钱选写生）与作者身份（宋遗民）的特殊性，历来为画史与诗评所留意。钱选为元代文人画开山人物，其写生花卉「精工而有士气」，后人题咏甚夥；陈深《清全斋集》中此题画组诗，正是理解钱选绘画「以物写志」路径的重要文献。清人编纂书画著录，于钱选题跋每加辑录，陈深诗亦在其中。今人论宋末元初遗民艺术，常以钱选、郑思肖（画兰不画土，喻国土沦丧）并提，陈深此诗写兰之「君子德」、水仙之「凌波仙」，正可与郑思肖「无土兰」互参，同见遗民以花木寄气节的集体无意识。学者如徐复观论元初绘画，强调「逸笔」背后的「逸气」，陈深诗中「静挹君子德」之「静」字，恰可视为对钱选画「静气」的诗学注解。又，此诗与陈深同题组诗其余四首合观，可见其以花喻人、以画寄友的一贯手法。综之，此诗虽小，而于画史、诗史、遗民心态三重维度皆有可观，非寻常题画应酬之作。
Prosody
Line by line
翩翩凌波仙，
Graceful, the goddess treading the waves,
画中水仙如那衣袂飘然、踏波而来的仙子。
The painted narcissus is like the goddess coming lightly over the waves, her sleeves streaming.
「翩翩凌波仙」为全诗起句，亦是对钱选所画水仙最精到的文学转译。「翩翩」状飞动轻举之貌，本出《诗经》《楚辞》写神女、写鵻鸟之语，移以写花，便赋予水仙以灵动的仙姿；「凌波仙」则直用曹植《洛神赋》「凌波微步，罗袜生尘」的典故，把水仙比为踏水而来的洛神。宋人自黄庭坚咏水仙「凌波仙子生尘袜」之后，以「凌波仙子」称水仙遂成定格，陈深此处虽仅用「凌波仙」三字，已足唤醒读者对那清姿照水的全部联想。妙在「翩翩」与「仙」的搭配：前者写动态之轻，后者写身份之超，合之则画中水仙既是视觉的（轻盈飘举），又是人格的（超尘脱俗）。作为题画诗，此句不粘于画的形似（不写花瓣几出、叶几茎），而直摄其神，正是苏轼论画「论画以形似，见与儿童邻」的实践。二十字之首即立此仙姿，为后文「君子德」的对照与「相知」的感慨奠下风神之基。
This is the poem's opening line, and the most refined literary rendering of the narcissus in Qian Xuan's painting. Graceful writes the light floating motion, originally from the Book of Songs and the Li Sao in writing the goddess and the birds; moved to write the flower, it gives the narcissus a nimble immortal grace. The goddess treading the waves directly uses Cao Zhi's Goddess of the Luo River, treading the waves with light steps, her silk stirrups breathing dust, comparing the narcissus to the Luo goddess coming over the water. After Huang Tingjian sang of the narcissus as the goddess treading the waves with dust on her stirrups, calling the flower the goddess treading the waves became fixed; Chen Shen here uses only the three words goddess treading the waves, enough to awaken all the reader's association with the clear form mirrored in the water. The beauty lies in the pairing of graceful and immortal: the former writes the lightness of motion, the latter the transcendence of station; together, the painted narcissus is at once visual (light and floating) and moral (beyond the dust). As a painting-inscribed poem, this line does not cling to the painting's likeness (not writing how many petals or stems), but directly seizes its spirit, exactly the practice of Su Shi's view of painting that to judge a painting by likeness is to think like a child. The twenty characters open with this immortal grace, laying the ground for the later contrast of the gentleman's virtue and the sigh of mutual knowing.
静挹君子德。
Calmly drawing in the virtue of a gentleman.
那幽兰在沉静中，自有一种君子般的品德流露。
The orchid in the picture, in its stillness, breathes out a gentleman's virtue.
「静挹君子德」写画中另一主角——兰，与首句水仙之「翩翩」形成一动一静、一仙一德的对照。「挹」本为舀取、酌取之意（如「挹彼注兹」），此处引申为「领略、涵蕴」，言兰于静穆之中自涵君子之德，不事张扬而德性自见。「君子德」三字直承儒家以兰喻君子之传统：孔子「芝兰生于深林，不以无人而不芳」，屈子「纫秋兰以为佩」，皆以兰之幽芳不渝比君子之节操不改。陈深以遗民身份写此，尤有深意——入元不仕，正似幽兰处深林而芳，不以无人（无君、无朝）而改其德。此句之炼，在「静」字与「挹」字的配合：「静」是兰的姿态，也是遗民的心境；「挹」是兰对德的涵容，也是诗人对画的领略。一花之德，至此已不纯是物性，而成了人格的镜像。前句写仙（超世），此句写德（守节），二花并立，恰构成遗民精神世界中「超脱」与「持守」的两面。
This line writes the other protagonist in the painting - the orchid - forming with the first line's graceful narcissus a contrast of motion and stillness, immortal and virtue. Drawing in originally means to scoop out or draw off (as in draw from there and pour here); here extended to mean to comprehend and contain, saying the orchid, in its stillness, contains of itself a gentleman's virtue, no self-display yet the virtue of itself appears. The three words gentleman's virtue directly inherit the Confucian tradition of comparing the orchid to the gentleman: Confucius's the sacred orchid grows in the deep wood, not less fragrant for no one seeing it, and Qu Yuan's threading autumn orchids for a girdle, both compare the orchid's unfailing fragrance to the gentleman's unchanging integrity. Chen Shen, writing as a loyalist, carries deep meaning - entering Yuan and not serving, exactly like the orchid in the deep wood fragrant, not changing its virtue for no one (no lord, no court). The line's worked art lies in the pairing of still and draw in: still is the orchid's posture, and the loyalist's frame of mind; draw in is the orchid's containing of virtue, and the poet's comprehension of the painting. A flower's virtue is here no longer purely the thing's nature, but becomes the mirror of character. The first line writes the immortal (beyond the age), this line writes the virtue (keeping the integrity); the two flowers standing together exactly form the two sides of the loyalist's spiritual world - transcendence and holding fast.
平生出处同，
All their lives, their way forth and their dwelling are one,
它们一生里生长的环境与品格的渊源本就相同。
Their whole lives, the source and character of their growth are one.
「平生出处同」是由前两句分写二花，转向后两句总绾其神的关键过渡。「平生」犹言一生、本然；「出处」在此有二重意涵：表层指二花生长的环境与姿态（水仙出于水滨、兰处于幽谷，皆避尘嚣），深层则暗用士人「出仕」与「处隐」的古老命题（《易·系辞》「或出或处」）。陈深与钱选皆为宋遗民，入元不仕，以「处」为节，故「出处同」既可解作二花禀赋同源（同属清品），亦可解作二人（以及二花所喻之人格）同隐不仕的默契。这一句的妙处，在于把画中两样花卉从「并列的物」提升为「同道的友」——它们不只是被画在一起，更在精神谱系上本属一家。二十字中此句最见理趣，它使题画从「状物」悄然转向「论交」，为末句「相知不易得」的感慨预作伏笔。若无此句，则前后两句只是赞花；有此句，则花与人、画与友浑然打通。
This line is the key transition from the first two lines' separate writing of the two flowers to the last two lines' gathering of their spirit. All one's life means throughout one's days, by nature; way forth and dwelling here carries a double meaning: on the surface, it means the environment and posture of the two flowers' growth (the narcissus issuing from the water's bank, the orchid dwelling in the secluded vale, both avoiding the dusty clamor); in depth, it secretly uses the old proposition of the scholar's serving office and dwelling in reclusion (the Book of Changes' either issuing forth or dwelling). Chen Shen and Qian Xuan were both Song loyalists, entering Yuan and not serving, taking dwelling as their integrity; hence way forth and dwelling are one can be read at once as the two flowers' common endowment (both of the clear strain), and as the tacit understanding of the two men (and the characters the flowers meta-phor) both dwelling in reclusion and not serving. The line's beauty lies in raising the two flowers in the painting from parallel things to friends of the same way - they are not only painted together, but in the spiritual lineage belong by nature to one house. Among the twenty characters this line most shows rational delight; it makes the painting-inscription quietly turn from describing the thing to discussing friendship, laying a ground for the closing sigh of such knowing is hard to find. Without this line, the two surrounding lines would only praise flowers; with it, flower and man, painting and friend are blended through.
相知不易得。
Such knowing each other is hard to find.
像它们这般彼此相知契合，在人间实在难以求得。
Such mutual understanding and match, among men, are hard to come by.
「相知不易得」为全诗收束，也是诗人借题画而发的身世之慨。「相知」本指彼此了解、情谊契合（古语「相知何必旧，倾盖定前言」），此处既指画中水仙与兰互为知己（同禀清气、同守幽贞），更暗指诗人与画家钱选之间、以及所有不仕新朝的遗民之间的相知之难。一个「不易得」以否定句式收尾，把前面建立起来的「仙德相映、出处相同」的理想关系，拉回人间的现实——世间真能如二花般相知相契者，实在稀少。这就使一首二十字的题画小诗，陡然生出家国之痛与友道之叹的厚度。从章法看，此句与第三句「出处同」构成「同—难」的跌宕：既然本同，何以难知？正因易代之际知交零落、同道难觅，故愈显「同」之可贵。陈深以极淡之笔收极沉之慨，是宋末遗民题画诗「于平淡中见悲凉」的典型笔法，亦见其不仕之志固，而孤独之慨深。
This line gathers the poem, and is the poet's own lot-sigh through the painting inscription. Mutual understanding originally means understanding each other and a matching affection (the old words why need mutual understanding be old? the tilted hat's meeting fixes the former words); here it means at once the narcissus and orchid in the painting being each other's understanding (both endowed with clear breath, both keeping the secluded purity), and secretly the difficulty of mutual knowing between the poet and the painter Qian Xuan, and among all the loyalists who did not serve the new dynasty. The three words hard to find close in a negative sentence, pulling the ideal relationship established before - immortal and virtue shining together, way forth and dwelling one - back to the human reality: those in the world who can truly know and match each other like the two flowers are indeed rare. This makes a twenty-character painting-inscription poem suddenly grow the thickness of grief for the lost country and sigh at the way of friendship. In structure, this line and the third way forth and dwelling one form the rise and fall of one and hard: since by nature one, why hard to know? Precisely because at the turn of the age understanding friends are scattered and those of the same way hard to find, the more precious the one. Chen Shen closes the deepest grief in the plainest brush, the typical way of the late-Song loyalist painting-inscription of showing desolation in plainness, and showing his fixed resolve not to serve and the deep loneliness of his sigh.
Study
Word focus
Related Reading
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黄庭坚《王充道送水仙花五十支》「凌波仙子生尘袜，水上轻盈步微月。是谁招此断肠魂，种作寒花寄愁绝」，首句即以「凌波仙子」写水仙，与陈深「翩翩凌波仙」同一典故源流，皆祖曹植《洛神赋》。黄诗铺张扬厉，以「断肠魂」「寄愁绝」写羁旅之愁；陈诗仅以「翩翩」二字挈领，转而绾合兰花、友道，格局更为清简含蓄。二者皆宋人咏水仙名作，然黄为北宋元祐诗人，借花写个人迁谪之愁；陈为宋末遗民，借画写气节与相知之慨。比较可见，「凌波仙子」一喻自黄庭坚定型后，成为水仙书写的固定语码，陈深题画用之，既是对前贤的呼应，也是在易代语境下对「仙」之清逸的重新确认。
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郑思肖（所南）画兰不画土，人问其故，答曰「土为蕃人夺去」，其兰遂成宋遗民气节的图腾。陈深此诗「静挹君子德」写兰之德，与郑思肖无土之兰精神相通——皆以兰喻不仕新朝、守节不渝的君子人格。不同的是，郑以画之「缺」（无土）寄亡国之痛，陈以诗之「静」写持守之态；郑法激烈外露，陈法温厚内敛。然二者同出宋遗民集体心态，皆借兰这一古老「君子」符号，在异族政权下为自我身份作证。比较陈诗与遗民题兰传统，可见宋末元初「以花木为气节容器」的普遍诗学策略：花愈清，节愈显；诗愈淡，痛愈深。
离骚（纫秋兰以为佩） Encountering Sorrow (Excerpt) 屈原 · 同以兰为君子之象征，文化母题的远祖 Related readingCompare this related work with the poem above through theme, imagery, tone, and emotional movement.
屈原《离骚》「纫秋兰以为佩」「余既滋兰之九畹兮，又树蕙之百亩」，首开以兰喻君子修德、以香草喻高洁人格的文学传统，是中国「香草美人」母题的奠基之作。陈深「静挹君子德」五字，正是对这一传统的千年回应：兰之「君子德」并非陈深自创，而是自屈子以来一脉相承的文化共识。区别在于，屈原处楚国衰乱而犹存希望，其兰多带「滋」「树」的主动栽培之意；陈深处宋亡之后，其兰唯余「静挹」的被动守持之态，时代之悲使同一意象染上不同的色调。比较二者，可见「兰—君子」这一喻象从战国到宋末的沿革：它由政治寄托渐化为遗民气节，由外放的热忱变为内敛的坚守，而精神内核始终未改。